Hinton Happenings

Since before I can remember, my mom has been cooking my sisters and I chicken fingers with mashed potatoes and homemade gravy. This was one of those meals that became a staple in our family. As a newer wife, I'm still trying to figure out which meals will become those staples in my own home.

If you're a new wife, or just new to cooking, The Food Network website is amazing! You can find quick, easy, and healthy recipes in seconds, which is definitely appealing to me! When I came across this Chicken Fingers with Curried Ketchup recipe, I immediately wrote down the list of ingredients needed to pull it off. This recipe was super easy, definitely healthy (only 330 calories per serving!), and gave chicken tenders a fun twist.

• cooking spray
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• kosher salt
• 2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (1.5 to 1.75 lbs., cut into 1-inch-wide strips)
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• juice of 1 lime

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a rack on a baking sheet and mist with cooking spray. Whisk the eggs, mustard, 1 teaspoon curry powder, the cumin and 1 teaspoon salt in a shallow bowl. Mix the panko with 1/2 teaspoon curry powder in another bowl.

• Dip the chicken strips in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off, then coat with the panko. Place the chicken on the rack and mist all over with cooking spray. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

• Meanwhile, bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in a large pot with a steamer rack or basket in place. Add the broccoli, cover and steam until crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Mix the ketchup, lime juice and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon curry powder in a small bowl. Serve the chicken strips with the curried ketchup and broccoli.

(**Ingredients and directions from FoodNetwork.com)


I hope you will try this recipe and then let me know what you think! My husband is a big guy and tends to eat us out of house and home, so I normally make about 2lbs. of chicken tenders. If he doesn't eat it all, then I just pack it for lunch the next day! I also have a super easy garlic mashed potatoes recipe that I will substitute for the broccoli, just to change things up.

Today I came home to a clean apartment. And I mean CLEAN. Like vacuumed clean. I was so impressed! Luke's job isn't the kind where he has the same, set days off each week. Some days he'll have a weekend off, others he'll have a Monday and Wednesday off. His schedule just depends on camp guests, jobs to be done, and if he is running the retreat/weekend/event or not. He had off today and will have off tomorrow as well because he works this upcoming weekend. Because of this, I came home to a clean, vacuumed apartment and...ROSES! One dozen red roses to be exact. After the long day I had, he couldn't have given me a sweeter gift. I am so grateful for him!!


Just like clockwork, becoming a wife has brought out the cook in me. Now, please note that I did not say gourmet chef, just cook. I guess it was inevitable. "Man cannot live by college nachos alone..." or something like that, right? ;) All joking aside, this whole wife-cooking-for-her-husband instinct has been very intriguing to me. You see, I've never been a cook. My great-grandmother was an award-winning cook and wrote her own cookbook, my mom has cooked perfectly for a family of 6+ for over 19 years, and my sister Emily was the assistant manager of a French restaurant in midtown Houston at the age of 20. In college, I was lucky if I "cooked" Chicken Viola once or twice a week.

But things are different now. I want to cook to Luke; I enjoy cooking for him. My repertoire is a little shallow still, but for now I just want to master the basics. I'll get fancy later. Tonight I made beef stroganoff and steamed broccoli. I know this may sound pretty basic to all you wives and moms out there, but I was pretty impressed with myself! It was my first time to cook this meal for Luke and he LOVED it! I think I'm going to enjoy these wife instincts that are starting to surface. :)

This 4th of July weekend was much needed for the Hintons. After a whirlwind wedding weekend last week and having to go back to work immediately after, we were pumped to have a 3-day weekend all to ourselves to just cozy up in the apartment, chill out, and celebrate having being married for a whole week (not too monumental for most, but we love it!).

Luke didn't get home until almost 9pm on Friday night, but being the impatient committed wife that I am, I still cooked him dinner. I decided on chicken alfredo with bow tie pasta, broccoli, and sun-dried tomatoes. I made a little garlic bread too! In the past, I haven't been one for much cooking, but I'm definitely trying. It helps to have a super cute husband who is always hungry and up for anything. He told me he liked it, so I was content. :)

If you read my blog post from yesterday, you learned about my first endeavor with cooking from scratch. The herb roasted chicken, rough mashed potatoes, and green beans were so yummy and fun to cook that mom and I decided I needed to make a second dinner tonight. So after another quick trip to HEB, I had all the ingredients I needed for homemade pizza!

First, I rolled out the dough on a pan. Then I put a small amount of olive in my hands and lightly spread it over the dough. After sprinkling some rosemary, thyme, and chopped onions on the dough, I put in the oven for just a few minutes to get it slightly warmed and golden.

I am proud to announce that tonight, for the very first time in my life, I cooked an entire meal from scratch. And the best part is, it was SO tasty! After my mom read my blog post where I talked about how I can't cook for crap, she decided to give me a cooking lesson. I think this is partially because I never inherited the love for cooking that my sisters did and also because she feels sorry for Luke. I mean, who wouldn't? We don't want Luke to starve after we get married, now do we? So, without further ado, here is the storyboard of my first home-cooked meal!

First, mom and I went to HEB to grab the items we needed to create this meal. We bought chicken breast, red potatoes, green beans, an onion, lemons, light margarine, light sour cream, parsley, rosemary, and thyme. I already had olive oil and the seasonings. 


Next, I pulled out my small cutting board and a small bowl. I poured extra virgin olive oil into the bowl, enough to cover the bottom of the bowl and then a little, and I squeezed half a lemon into the olive oil (no seeds allowed!). Then I began to pull apart the rosemary and thyme and chopped up the parsley. These herbs then went into the bowl to be mixed together and rubbed over the chicken as a home-made marinade. At this point, I had already placed three chicken breast on a small pan.





I had pre-set the over to 400 so that the chicken could go in the oven immediately after being marinated. After the chicken was in the oven, I began to wash the red potatoes. These went into a medium-sized pot with water covering them and were set to a boiling temperature. I made sure to add a little salt to help them boil faster (thanks for the tip Jules!!). As these were boiling, I began to chop the green beans. These were rinsed and then put into a small frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and a few shakes of seasoning and garlic. A lid went over the green beans to help steam them.

Somehow I did not inherit the family cooking gene. My great grandmother on my mom's side was a fabulous cook. Back then cooking shows didn't exist on TV. Instead, cooking competitions showcased talented cooks. My great grandmother, Anna Beasley, won countless ribbons for her original recipes and hosted elaborate dinner parties at her house for years. She even printed her own cookbook title "Coast and Cactus Cookbook." My mother has always had a knack for cooking and my sister, Emily, works at a fancy French restaurant in Houston as a waitress and manager. Have I mentioned she cooks full meals from scratch and has a vocabulary for expensive wine like no other 21 year old I know? Yup, I got the short end of the stick.

However, I would like to think that I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of what could be an excitement for cooking. Thanks to Luke, I finally have someone to cook for on a more regular basis and I'm actually thrilled to do so. I guess that is part of loving a man and knowing that the way to his heart is through his stomach, ha! Someday I will be his wife and I'm hoping to have an plethora of options for meals once we're married. I guess I better get moving!

Alright, you're not allowed to laugh at me, ok? I'm going to tell you about what I cooked tonight and I need you to affirm me on my trek to becoming a good cook. I know this was a pretty simple meal and nothing was actually made from scratch (I'll get there, I promise!), but Luke loves it and that is all that matters. My girlfriend, Sarah Kubala, told me about this little "on the side of the box" recipe that her mom makes every so often. Sarah has also cooked this for her fiance, Andrew, and he's a big fan. So, I attempted this meal once and it was a big hit with my boy. He asked for the same meal again tonight, and with those blue eyes, how could I say no? So, without further ado, here is a little jambalaya!